TABLE OF CONTENTS Heart disease continues to be the leading cause of death. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 700,000 fatalities due to heart disease were reported in the United States alone in 2001. Imaging techniques have long been used for assessing and treating cardiac disease [1-3]. Among the imaging techniques employed are x-ray angiography, x-ray computed tomography (CT), ultrasonic imaging, magnetic resonance (MR) imaging, positron emission tomography (PET), single-photon emission tomography (SPECT), and electrocardiography. These options span most of the common radiation types and have their respective strengths for assessing various disease conditions. Chapter 10.2 further discusses some relevant image-formation techniques and references [1-3] give a general discussion on cardiac image-formation techniques.
The heart is an organ that is constantly in motion. It receives deoxygenated blood from the body's organs via the venous circulation system (veins). It sends out oxygenated blood to the body via the arterial circulation system (arteries). The heart itself receives some of this blood via the coronary arterial network. Disease arises when the blood supply to the heart is interrupted or when the mechanics of the cardiac cycle change.
The available cardiac-imaging modalities produce a wide range of image data types for disease assessment: 2D projection images, reconstructed 3D images, 2D slice images, true 3D images, time sequences of 2D and 3D images, and sequences of 2D interior-view (endoluminal) images. Each type of data introduces different processing issues. Fortunately, extensive...
